


Neutral Ground

by Pixelle



Category: Glitch Techs (Cartoon)
Genre: Character Study, F/F, Female Friendship, Friendship, I'm here to have fun, Introspection, probably gonna be testing the limits of this ampersand tho ngl ;), tags as they apply, zahra's a little shy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-02-28 20:14:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 9,887
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23363047
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pixelle/pseuds/Pixelle
Summary: One evening at the Hinobi Store, Zahra happens across Miko having trouble with a game. Slowly and gradually, circumstances morph into one of the most important and joyous events of Zahra's emotional life.(For Miko, it was Tuesday.)
Relationships: Zahra Rashid & Miko Kubota
Comments: 19
Kudos: 104





	1. Chapter 1

Nighttime was closing in, and it was Zahra's turn to do final rounds on Glitch Techs HQ while also closing the Hinobi store proper. Which counted as double duty, technically, but Zahra was fine with it—especially given the average activity level of both facilities at this time on a weeknight.

While the store on the other side of the connecting portal still serviced several gamers for its slowly subsiding mid-evening rush, there weren't many people left in HQ at this hour—just the janitors, and a few Techs finishing up afternoon missions, claiming their XP, and talking strats. The rest of the staff had already gone home to their families, including the rest of Zahra's raid team—Haneesh had schoolwork to catch up on, and Mitch…

…was Mitch, so, really, no one cared. And Zahra was no exception.

At some point, Zahra would head home too. By which she meant, the _latest_ point she could possibly manage—compared to being a Tech, the fun factor of Rashid family life tended to be a three out of five on its best days.

She wouldn't have to worry about that until her shift was over, though. Maybe she could browse the upcoming game releases calendar post-store close, she mused, as she performed a final walkabout of each of HQ's rooms. There were only two of them left for her to check for inhabitants, before organizing all devices and logging off all computers within.

As Zahra closed yet another database program in the first room, she heard grunts coming from the wall beside, which she knew to border one of the facility's many practice rooms. Not the large, chrome-lined and holographic 'smart' room with the gaming environment simulations so 'lifelike' that they could actually _end_ your life, thank goodness—but the _normal_ gaming practice rooms, where people were free to analyze Hinobi releases on nice, _normal_ video screens, free of charge, so that no Tech would have to go into a mission unprepared.

Zahra knew the cadence of the grunts well: someone was trying their absolute best at a game, but their best just wasn't good enough. She tried tuning the noises out—this sort of thing happened to all gamers. They'd get past whatever was driving them crazy sooner or later, or if they didn't, and they were smart, they'd move on—

_"RAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGH!"_

A particularly loud and anguished groan knocked Zahra off her balance, destroying the train of thought she was depending on to help her make her rounds without error. Straightening her hijab with a huff, she strode out of the room, rolling her eyes to the sky.

Okay. Whoever was in the practice room was definitely of the Not Smart variety. Seriously, Gamer Rage was always the worst way to handle one's frustrations. Why couldn't players just approach their problems calmly and methodically? Like she did. Always. Without fail. Especially during midnight sales for limited-print obscure overseas releases _easy access to memory wipes meant that no one could prove anything, after all—_

Resisting her baser urges, Zahra kept up her decorum, and entered the practice room—which, in all of its dark-painted, screen-lit glory, served absolutely one purpose, and served it well. She was instantly greeted by a massive wall-mounted monitor, under which could be seen wires connecting to every game console of the current generation. Several vintage consoles could be seen along the far wall, and oversized beanbags were scattered around the room, amidst more monitors and more consoles. A purple hue settled over the proceedings via dim, wall-mounted lights above, contrasting with the faint scents of potato chips and soda, the sources of which the janitors would take care of later.

There was one more entity in the room to add to Zahra, the mountain of tech, and all of the random discarded snack packages, however. It was at that moment that a flash of violet hair caught Zahra's eye. The owner of that hair—a girl—was glued to the screen, tapping buttons like there was no tomorrow—while the character onscreen didn't respond at all.

"Come on, come _on,_ why don't you do what I want, already?" the growled said through a shaking, hunched posture. "Why aren't you listening to me? _Tell me what you need!_ "

The player avatar on screen—a standard, anime-esque, sword-wielding knight—met his grisly end seconds later.

And then Zahra heard the same roaring, defeated groan from before, as the girl on the beanbag rolled _off_ of the beanbag, flopping onto her back on the carpeted floor as she tossed an empty soda bottle at the screen. A soft _boomp_ followed a second later as it bounced off the screen, and back onto the girl's head before rolling onto the floor, prompting a third groan, this laced with more annoyance.

The girl's wide eyes blinked up at Zahra's. "Oh. Uh, h-hey, Zahra," she said, allowing Zahra to instantly recognize her voice through the dim light. "How long have you been standing there?"

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

So it _was_ who Zahra had suspected in the back of her mind this whole time, after all. She chastised herself for not being completely sure in hindsight—but in her defense, galaxy hair camouflaged itself far too well in this room.

That was her story, and she was sticking to it.

Quick evaluation mod, then: Miko Kubota, one of the newest Glitch Techs recruits, certainly wasn't Not Smart, but she _was_ … 'impulsive' was the first word that had come to Zahra's mind when they'd first met, and it continued to stick. Outside of running a single joint mission together and a couple of random interactions—passing each other in the halls, her name coming up in conversation with some of the boys—they hadn't interacted much. Still, she respected what she'd seen of Miko in the field, and other Techs seemed to as well.

"Hey, Miko," Zahra replied with a small smile. "To answer your question: not very long, but I could hear you clear across HQ. In fact, I'm pretty sure Phil was able to hear you from his house. I'm in charge of closing up tonight, so I had to come over to make sure no one was dying on my watch." She paused a moment before adding, "In real life, I mean, not in the game."

Miko let out a sheepish titter. "Ha. Ahahahahaha. Ohhhh, yeah. Um. Sorry. Sometimes I really get into it? I'll turn it down. And by 'it', I mean my dumb, loud throat."

"Apology accepted this time, but no need to beat yourself up about it. We've all been there," Zahra said, calmly leaning back against one of the practice room's nearby walls. "What are you still doing _here_ , though? I saw you and Five turn in your day's XP when my shift started."

"Yeah, we did—" Miko blinked. "What do you mean, 'still'? I only started playing a little while ago."

"It's eight-thirty p.m., Miko," Zahra said, a hunch sinking into her stomach.

Miko froze, her mouth slowly widening to nearly the entire square footage of the room—then she sat up with a start facing the screen again. "I've been stuck on this stupid game for _four hours?_ " she exclaimed. "Please tell me you're messing with me!"

Yep, hunch confirmed. Also, ouch. Zahra shook her head. "Not my style. Jesting lies are an inefficient use of time."

" _Uggggggh._ " A fourth groan from Miko. She took out her phone, grimaced at it, then tapped on its screen several times before putting it away. "So, on top of totally bombing out on this game all night, I'll probably be facing Death By Mom tomorrow. Oh, well," she sighed, picking her controller back up. "Future Miko's problem. That'll teach her."

Zahra watched Miko go back to sitting hunched over on the beanbag, clutching the controller, staring intently at the screen, and going back into her original grunting groove—albeit more softly this time, as promised.

Their interaction having ended, Zahra almost left then and there—after all, the reason she'd come into the room had been taken care of, and nothing Miko was doing would directly affect Zahra unless she tried to stay in HQ for another three hours.

She… _almost_ left.

As in, she'd managed to turn all the way around, and take three steps towards the door… before stopping to look behind herself.

As she did, a curiosity nagged at the back of Zahra's mind. A curiosity she rarely got to indulge in, being who she was.

She watched Miko play her game, completely oblivious to the world around her. Mere moments before this, however, Miko had talked to Zahra, totally casually—then decided doing so was no longer needed, and went back to her activity without a care in the world.

The obliviousness in the face of gaming was a very, _very_ familiar mood for Zahra. The social bit, however, was… novel.

Too novel to ignore.

Being one of her territory's highest ranking Glitch Techs, _and_ one of the Hinobi Store's best-performing and most courteous sales agents, it was rare that Zahra _wasn't_ showered with attention or fawning whenever she showed up on the premises, or even simply walked by. Though to be fair, it was Mitch who commanded at least half of that attention, causing it to run off on her even at the most inopportune times, such as while she tried to concentrate on her own games and assignments.

Still.

Just now, someone at HQ had just acknowledged Zahra's existence, but _also_ after doing so, decided that something else was more worth their time, even promising to give Zahra some quiet space in the bargain. Zahra certainly was a fan of quiet space, but given her life, she still wasn't entirely sure what to do in this situation.

Especially given that talking to Miko, even for that short amount of time, had been… enjoyable, sort of. Yes. 'Enjoyable' was a word. Enough of a word to make her not leave the room yet, it would seem.

Zahra decided to do something, _anything,_ before standing over Miko looked weird—and the conclusion she hastily came to was that this turn of events afforded her a rare and conflicting opportunity: to strike up—if she wanted to, of course—a new conversation on her own terms, with someone she didn't consider to be half bad.

Maybe someone she even considered _interesting_.

_Was_ Miko 'interesting'? They weren't partners, so Zahra hadn't had much opportunity to tell. But what she did know right now, just from looking back at the game screen, was that Miko was _still_ having trouble—and based on Miko's pro gamer bio, Zahra was witnessing _another_ rare occurrence.

Maybe she could… help?

She decided to go for it. It wasn't an opportunity she got very often. Sometimes with Haneesh. When he wasn't busy at a keyboard.

What was the worst that could happen?

Besides everything, that was.

Pushing down the sudden churning in her stomach, she walked back into the room.

  
  
  



	3. Chapter 3

"Hey, uh, Miko?" Zahra said, with absolutely zero nervousness or apprehension whatsoever, because nervousness was never what she was about. She was just hungry. That was all.

"Yeah?" she heard Miko say back.

"Right. So." Zahra searched for words, choosing only the coolest and classiest, worthy productive, in-depth conversation. "Not that I'm your mom or anything—"

"Thank goodness for that!" Miko laughed, never taking her eyes off the screen—which was good, because Zahra was very close to propelling herself _through_ the nearby wall out of embarrassment, and she preferred to have no witnesses. "We'd drive each other nuts, and neither of us wants that."

Then again, that was the first laugh she'd heard out of Miko all night. Maybe this was for the best after all. Maybe… it _was_ worth it to keep going. Despite the multiple social hazards, of course.

"Right. Yeah," Zahra said, a small, curious smile crossing her lips. "But what I meant to ask was: will she be okay with you still being here?"

"Oh! Yeah, it'll be fine," Miko replied. "I told her I'm running late at work, so she just thinks I'm… you know. Working." Her head bobbed a little, suggesting she was rolling her eyes. "Doesn't mean I won't get a lecture when I get home about 'time management' for the thousandth time, though. Hence, Death By Mom— _no!_ "

On screen, the knight died once more, and Miko deflated with a long huff. "Ugggggh. You know," she said, restarting the level, "I really do love that playing video games here _is_ part of my job. You need all sorts of game skills and knowledge to catch glitches out there, right?"

Zahra nodded. "Right. You're a good study, too, from what I've seen."

"I do what I can, yeah. But…" Miko huffed again. "Everyone has their genre weaknesses. Even me." She looked back at Zahra, her lip widening into an embarrassed grin. "Don't tell the boys? Especially Five, he thinks I can kick his butt at everything, aaaaaaaand I need it to stay that way. For reasons."

The corner of Zahra's lip curled even more. "Sure." She walked over to Miko, kneeling beside her, finally deciding to pay real attention to the game itself. The knight onscreen wore clothes which, now that she could make out the colors and individual sprites of himself and the enemies, completely clicked—and Zahra's heart leapt.

"Whoa, hey," she said, perking up. " _Bravestone Tactics_?"

Miko nearly dropped her controller, but caught it before it hit the ground. "Hang up," she said, her head snapping left to face Zahra. "You _know_ this game?"

"I _love_ this game," Zahra said, thankful that the room was dark enough that Miko surely couldn't see the stars in her eyes.

"Yeah, well, that makes one of us. Mainline _Bravestone_ series, I can play just fine. Battle screen comes up, I'm on one side, they're on the other, I pick the thing I wanna do, cool lights and sounds, big numbers, I win." Miko gestured one hand towards the screen. "But this 'tactical' stuff? I move but I can't attack, I attack but I can't move…" With strained sounds, Miko pressed buttons, causing the knight to move erratically while the rest of his party stayed in a single spot. "And all my supposed 'party members' are _useless!_ Every time I make a move, the bad guys make a better one, and—"

The knight blipped out of existence, showing a "MISSION FAILED" screen. Miko flopped backward again, letting the controller slide out of her hands in a half-toss. "It's official. I am the definition of mailing fissions," she said, crossing her arms with a pouty expression. "You know, Five would probably be way into this. He loves 'planning' stuff."

Zahra smiled, the sight of Miko causing bits of memories to rush to the front of her mind. Once more, this was all too familiar—even remembering the initial frustration of wrapping her own head around the tactical system proved nice—and an easy avenue for empathy.

"He's not the only one," she said, sitting beside Miko on the beanbag. "Toss me that controller."

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

"Okay," Miko said, doing as Zahra asked. "Hope you do better than I did."

Wordlessly, Zahra's hands closed around the distinctly-shaped controller. The moment they did, instinct took over. She felt its contours, slid her thumb over the buttons. Its lower grips, meant to mold themselves to most human hands while at the same time bearing the symbol of the company she worked for, proved equally hospitable to her own hands as she held the device with a confident air.

The memories claimed their victory.

And she was transported.

_Bravestone Tactics_ , by current-day standards, _was_ a retro game, even if it didn't seem like one at the time—or even years later—with its seamless polygon-sprite hybrid graphics. Released for the Hinobi Turbo-Tech 2K (Rejected Slogan #102: ' _The Millennial System of the Millennium_ '), the game and its system had been gifted to Zahra when both were on clearance to make way for the new console generation.

_Bravestone Tactics_ had been Zahra's introduction to the series, as well as one of her first games ever, which meant she'd learned it inside and out. It also meant that this version of _Tactics_ was technically a port—the feel of the controller was far different from the Turbo-Tech 2K's—but everything else was enough of the same to take her back to her youth, back to her dark bedroom, pretending not to hear her parents calling her for dinner.

Food was always good, but broccoli would have to wait. She was, after all, the only one who could save the world. The Brave Knights followed her every command, her every advisement, recorded every action she took, and showered her with praise for every job well done.

Praise for herself, and no one else. In _Bravestone Tactics_ , Zahra _mattered._ Mattered to other people. In _Bravestone Tactics_ , the Brave Knights were… her friends.

But only if she won. She had to win.

_Every single time._

Zahra's eyes narrowed.

_Zone entered—_

"Uhhhhh, Zahra?" she heard Miko faintly say from the side, while also tapping her on the shoulder.

It was enough to bring Zahra _out_ of her trance, _zone exited_ , in a harsh, brain snapping fashion. "Huh? What?" Zahra looked around, darting her head as she came down from being startled. "Miko? What's wrong?"

"Nothing. You were just seriously _somewhere else_ for a second," Miko said, first with a concerned look, then a half-grin. "Don't worry, I won't tell anyone about the drool. Man, you weren't kidding when you said you loved this game. I don't know anyone who would get this excited over a title screen."

"It's a… very nostalgic title screen," Zahra mumbled, wondering if hurling herself through the floor was an option, now that she was too far from the wall. "R-really good music."

"Haha, yeah! Bop confirmed, no lies detected!" Miko replied, stretching out on the beanbag. "Redbook audio totally changed the game back when this sucker dropped. Buuuuuuut you said you were going to help me?"

"R-right, yes." Zahra nodded, her eyes still transfixed on the screen as she pressed the Start button. "So you said you're a _Bravestone_ series veteran?"

"I wasn't always, but I am now," Miko said. "Ever since I got Ally, I started going through the series slowly, to learn as much as I could. At least, slowly at _first_."

"At first?" Zahra echoed.

"Yeah," Miko said, gesturing excitedly. "They're all great! But, like, once I hit _Bravestone VI_ , everything totally clicked! Being able to save the world from demonic evil and their cranky old sorceress leader, while also being _totally engrossed_ in a story about a cool lady knight who misses her father and has to follow in his footsteps? Who doesn't love that?"

Zahra grinned. "Terrible people, of course."

"Too terrible for this world! Boo-yeah!" Miko agreed, holding out her fist. Zahra held hers out as well, allowing both girls to meet them with a gentle tap.

A warm ripple washed over Zahra the moment Miko made contact. Taking a chance on spontaneous, casual conversation was proving itself to be a good idea the more it went on.

And to think, she'd only pressed the Start button so far.

"So, what's your fave _Brave_?" Miko asked.


	5. Chapter 5

"My huh-what?" Zahra said, blinking.

"Your favorite _Bravestone_ , duh!" Miko chattered. "You a Classic Brave? Or a Modern Stoner?" She leaned in closer, with a long, toothy smile which looked as if she were two steps away from breaking into uncontrollable laughter.

Oh, _right,_ of course. It had actually taken months after playing _Tactics_ for Zahra to learn that _Bravestone_ was indeed part of a series, and normally of a completely different genre than the one that had introduced her to said series, at that. Still, she'd eventually played and enjoyed every single one—some more than others, but all of them had their individual strengths.

"My heart will always be with what few strategy games exist," Zahra said, "but if we're sticking with mainline? Then…" She gave the matter some quick thought, but in the end, there really wasn't much need to think at all. One had always stuck out to her beyond the rest. "Definitely _Bravestone IX_ ," she finished, her expression turning wistful.

" _Whoa!_ " Miko guffawed, finally breaking into that silently promised laughter, giggles echoing off the walls. "The black sheep? Seriously?"

Zahra tensed at seeing Miko's reaction, upon hearing the derision in her tone and words—her heart pulsing, her teeth gritting behind her lips.

Of course. It _always_ came to this.

"Black sheep" was a designation Zahra had already heard far too often online—and that was when people were being 'nice,' which most 'gaming' forums and certainly social video sites were not. Which meant that usually she'd heard far more… colorful opinions.

Memories rushed back to her, of countless posted videos and attempts to have joyful, positive nerdy discussions gone awry, drowned out by rants about how her favored game in the series had supposedly destroyed someone or other's 'childhood', and why it was a showcase of "objectively" bad design.

As if she cared, or respected, _any_ of said rants after encountering the 50th of them, which always ragged on and on with the same complaints about the same "polarizing" aspects about the game, aspects which she'd actually _liked—_

Zahra sighed and slumped, while just barely resisting smacking herself on the forehead. What had she been thinking? Why had she gone back on her personal promise never to talk about _Bravestone_ in public?

And _why did she still care so much about this?_

She looked at Miko, then looked away. "Yeah," she finally replied in a muted voice, her hands going limp on the controller. "Black sheep."

Several silent moments passed before she heard Miko slowly say, "Whoa, hang on. Wait a second."

"For what?" Zahra asked, internally debating how best to get up and leave without making things even more awkward.

"For me to stop being such a _doof._ " Miko crawled off of and around the beanbag, until she was in Zahra's view again. Kneeling in front of Zahra, Miko put her hands on the other girl's shoulders, looking into her eyes.

"I know that face," Miko said, her expression contrite. "It means I messed up. I'm sorry, Zahra."

"Um… you don't have to be sorry for not liking something," Zahra said.

"I mean, I'm not sorry about _that,_ " Miko said with a half-smile. "Just like I hope you're not sorry for liking it. But I am sorry about _how_ I expressed that dislike just now." She gestured towards the consoles around them. "Games are a part of us. They reach inside us and show us what we're about, and what we believe in. Meaning game _opinions_ can hurt sometimes. They can get really personal. Especially when boundaries and respect aren't established up front. I'll admit that _IX_ wasn't my favorite…" Miko tapped her index fingers together. "…and we both know that doesn't make me unique. But what _does_ make me unique is that I never decided it was worth waging any kind of war over.

"I'm not about that," Miko said, as Zahra's defenses slowly and visibly softened. "Neither is Five. We're all about co-op. So this right here? You and me? _Opposite_ of sosh meds. Cool space. Neutral ground. _Positive, respecting_ ground. I promise."

Miko rolled back onto the beanbag, and looked back at Zahra with another flash of one of her winning smiles. "Oh, and if I ever forget that, call me out? I forget a lot of stuff, sometimes seconds later."

"Y-yeah. I…" Compared to the chill from three minutes ago, now Zahra could feel herself warming all over again, far more intensely than before. "I get that tons. Thanks, Miko," she said, and meant it. "That means a lot to me."

"Of course! So, yeah, not only do I respect your fave," Miko went on, now sliding up next to Zahra, "but I think it's awesome I finally found someone I can talk _differently_ about that game with! I wanna know what you liked!"

"You… you do?" Zahra asked, her voice a near-whisper.

Miko's ever-present grin stretched from ear to ear. "Heck, yeah! The more games I get turned around on, the more fun I have, right? Even if that doesn't happen… this is how you explore people, you know? The more understanding gamers are, the more fun everyone has. Besides, someone liking something unpopular doesn't mean the end of the world around me." She winked at Zahra. "It just makes them fascinating."

"Whoa, hang on," Zahra said with a tilt of her head. "Am I a specimen now?"

"Not yet, I'll letcha know when." The controller, tossed by Miko, landed back in Zahra's lap. "Anyway, if you really wanna thank me, get me past this dumb screen! Also…" Miko's voice lowered, softening through breaths. "Talk to me. What got you into _IX_ so hardcore?"

Zahra's smile finally returned, as the game's first mission began.


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay," Zahra said, settling into the beanbag. "If you really wanna know what I think about _IX_ …"

"And I _do!_ " Miko said, not missing a beat and shaking Zahra's arm. "Come on, come on, keeping me in suspense is against the rules!" She pointed towards the game. "Says so in the EULA."

"You sure?" Zahra played along, hiding a smile and making a show of staring at the screen, which was really a bunch of characters and tiles. "I don't see anything. Outside of a bunch of legal mumbo-jumbo fine-print nobody reads."

"Yah, and it's right _there,_ buried in the middle of all that stuff!" Miko pointed to an arbitrary spot on the display, and recited. "'Withholding answers to literally any question Miko Kubota asks is punishable by revoking your gameplay privileges by way of, like, an update or something. Specifically tailored to you. So you can think about what you did. Or, uh, in this case, didn't do. So you should do it.'"

"Okay, okay," Zahra giggled, doing all she could to stop her heart from floating out of her chest. As nice as Miko was being right now, past experiences, past _nervousness,_ still lingered, mingling with this new excitement.

But at the same time, this new excitement was, well, _new,_ and rather welcome, so she decided to go with it. "So, first off, I know a lot of people had problems with _IX_ 's story. Mainly because—at least in the ending most people got—it doesn't end with the world getting saved."

"Yeah." Miko laid back on the bag with a huff. "Instead, after all that work you do, all the battles you win, you just… die? What's up with that?"

Zahra nodded. "Exactly. Thing is…" Zahra paused, reflecting back on her own mind-blown expression when she'd gotten that exact ending Miko was referring to." "…I really liked that."

"Got a thing for downer endings, huh?" Miko smirked. "I can dig it."

Zahra chuckled. "Heh. Everyone I tell that to says that. But that's not quite it. It's that…" Zahra hesitated, doing the best she could to find the right words, before eventually giving up and just speaking. "The ending is a downer. And it _is_ there to make you sad. And I also know that a lot of people come to games to escape their life a lot. To be someplace where they can feel that with enough time and hard work, and a few friends, they really _can_ make a difference in the entire world. I get that really hard."

Zahra closed her eyes.

"But…"

* * *

_Evenings in Zahra's room tended to be longer than most. By that time, with the sun down, and the world covered in darkness and dim streetlights, the outside was dangerous—at least, that's what her family always told her._

_So, when she wasn't in the same room with said family, she was holed up inside a 10'x10' box, which contained several comforts of modern life._

_An entire whole room to herself, left to her own devices to amuse herself… with no one_ but _herself to bounce off of, share fun moments with, or even fight with. Every game played, every_ Bravestone _battle won, every ending achieved, every sad moment… well, hugging a plushie would have to do._

_Nights in Zahra's room, with the lights and TVs off, staring up at the ceiling—or, at least where she thought the ceiling was in the pitch blackness—were just as private, just as self-affirming… and just as lonesome._

_Repeat for eternity._

_Or until college. Whichever came first._

* * *

Zahra hugged her knees.

"I wasn't into the game being sad for its own sake," she said, putting the controller down as the _Bravestone Tactics_ opening cutscenes ran through at low volume. "I just… I guess I liked a game that knew how I felt sometimes. A game that understood that sometimes, it's not alright, all the time." She paused to exhale through pursed lips. "Sometimes, it doesn't all turn out okay, and the fantasy… is final."

* * *

_Why was she saying all of this?_

No, seriously, why in the Hek? Miko was a nice girl and all, and a cool coworker—maybe a little hyper, maybe sometimes spent more time looking at shiny rocks while on Tech duty, maybe _always_ gabbing about games during re-shelving duty in the store than doing any actual re-shelving—

Look, point was, Miko was fine, but she wasn't _overshare_ fine. Meanwhile here Zahra was, spilling her guts and baring her vulnerabilities as if Miko were some kind of lifelong childhood friend.

_Or like a sister-_

Zahra's mind spun as she went over a hundred and one ways she could exercise damage control in her head. Also, there was still the slamming-oneself-through-the wall option, just saying.

Her silence, her self-chastisement, was interrupted by a hand on her knee.

Miko was looking at her again. And this time, her face didn't show mirth or contrition. Just… kindness. The kindness Zahra usually only saw when her heals or buffs procced on whatever team she was on. A kindness that communicated someone actually giving a damn that Zahra existed.

"You're right," Miko said, once again with that out-of-nowhere softness that Zahra was _really_ beginning to enjoy. "That totally makes sense. It doesn't _always_ work out, and it's not bad to know that. To really know that. Failure is just…" Miko closed her eyes with a soft exhale. "…a thing that happens to us sometimes."

But someone giving a damn about what Zahra had to _say?_

Once again, Miko was full of surprises.


	7. Chapter 7

To be fair, the last thing Zahra expected was for Miko to possibly start sharing _back._

What to do? Should she table the games conversation? Ask if anything was the matter? Was this where they were supposed to start brushing each others' hair and talking about what boys and/or girls they liked? Should they order a pizza? What was the rule on sleeping bags in HQ?

Heck, forget all that: _why was her next reply always so hard to come up with?_

Ugh, she was always so _bad_ at this stuff. This social stuff. Not terrible, she certainly couldn't be a Tech without being able to do the teamwork thing, but… the small stuff that everyone seemed to take for granted when being social.

The mundane stuff.

_This_ stuff.

She was bad at this.

Then again, it wasn't as if she'd had much practice. No, talking to plushies didn't count. Nor did making up problems for characters in her _Bravestone_ fanfics. Hanging back as support probably didn't help much with personal encounters, but it was what she was best at, was she supposed to change just because _you need to get out more_ was a favorite catchphrase of her parents—

Ugh. She was getting into her own head again. Stop. Stop it, Zahra. Miko was being nice and cute and she needed to show that it was appreciated, darn it.

Zahra steeled her nerves, and forced herself to focus. No being needy. She wouldn't pry. Besides, if Miko wanted to take their conversation deeper, she'd certainly say so. Because Miko was as much a say-what's-on-her-mind-in-two-seconds girl as Zahra was an emotional steel trap requiring a crowbar, apparently.

Plus, games were their shared, and almost _primary_ , language. If they couldn't communicate and share through them, what was the point of being Techs?

"Yeah, exactly." Zahra finally said, nodding at Miko's reply. Slowly, she turned her head back towards the television—practically staring _through_ its screen as she went through the motions of the post-opening-movie tutorial screens. "Let's face it. So many games, especially in the _Bravestone_ series, you can write the ending to 40 hours before you get there."

Miko nodded. "Hee hee. Yeah."

Zahra's faraway gaze persisted. "…which holds especially true when you play every installment in a row."

Miko blinked. "Whoa. I'm, uh, not sure you're supposed to do that. Where I come from, we call that 'overkill'."

Zahra grinned out of one corner of her mouth, her eyes never leaving the screen, her button pressing never leaving the realm of automatic motion. "What can I say? I got addicted. But even though _IX_ ends 'badly,' you still have a ton of victories along the way in the narrative, and because of the battle system, none of them actually get violent."

At the mention of combat systems, something in the back of her mind said that perhaps teaching Miko the ins and outs of _Bravestone Tactics_ should probably start here—but then she remembered Five telling her about Miko hating any and all tutorials, ever.

It was just as well, then. Teaching, _supporting,_ was always best handled with a personal touch, and Zahra was more than willing to provide it—especially since Miko had already asked.

"Hang on," Miko said, with light laughter. "Don't you mean the 'talking system'? The one I kept having to find ways to skip past so I could actually fight?"

Zahra blushed. "Yes, I did—wait, hang on, you said you always skipped talking?"

Miko nodded. "Yep."

"As in," Zahra continued, slowly, "every single time you could talk things out, you just… didn't?"

Miko nodded. "Pretty much, yeah. Hit stuff, go boom, see what happens next."

Zahra stared at Miko, eyes wide and incredulous. Miko noticed the look, and tapped her index fingers together in visible embarrassment. "I'm, um, not really much of a diplomacy person?"

Unable to help it any longer, Zahra burst into laughter. "You don't say!"

Miko's face tomatoed in short order. "W-what's that supposed to mean?"

Zahra did her best to force herself to stop laughing, especially under the circumstances. The "talking system" that both girls were alluding to had proven… divisive, under the best of circumstances, and Zahra knew it all too well.

Simply put: the creators of _Bravestone IX_ had a vision: instead of battling, the designers and writers coded in thousands of possible and variable text conversations with everyone in the game, from town NPCs to high-ranking political figureheads, all governed by a dynamically-reacting artificial intelligence algorithm—the first of its kind. Proper interaction would have significant effects on the story… for good, or ill, but at least things would never be undramatic or uninteresting.

In the end, their efforts were lauded in critical publications and reviews upon the game's release, but the initiative had flopped like a dead fish with the target audience, who just wanted to Save The World. Meanwhile, all of the money that the developer had risked on its Gambit of an interaction system caused it to face a decision: go bankrupt, or sell itself—which it eventually did, to Hinobi, to become a second-party developer.

For Zahra, however, the game had been no flop. She'd loved every moment of it. A game where her words changed more than her battles ever did. The created heroine avatar whose identity she assumed was renowned for her power, both royal and physical, and the game reflected this, allowing Zahra to slowly take on a diplomatic, peacemaking role, and allowing her party to have whole _countries_ rallying behind it, ever ready to take on common threats, accomplish common goals, and defend the common good. Her wistful look returned as she soaked in the memories.

That was _Zahra's_ experience, though, and Zahra knew that. It wasn't most other people's, and it certainly wasn't Miko's, either. It never could have been, Zahra knew now too, even before Miko's revelation from the minute prior.

"Not making fun, I promise, but I've seen you in action fighting glitches," Zahra said, her voice level again. "You struck me as one of those kinds of people who mash the 'Fight' button in every encounter until it's over. Which I'm guessing is how you played _Bravestone_ , is all."

"Whoa, _hey_ now," Miko said, mock-indignantly. "That Fight button let me wreck _everyone_ who got mad at me with a bazillion swipes of my blade!" She swung her arms as they wielded an invisible sword.

Neither the sight, nor Miko's playfully pouty tone of voice, was helping to quell Zahra's mirth. "Stop, _please_ stop," she continued to giggle. "You're _too_ adorable right now."

It was still a surprise to Zahra, however, when Miko _did_ , abruptly, stop, palming the beanbag with splayed hands and looking downward.

"…but all it did was make all the bad guys stronger and stronger." Miko's voice hard-shifted to muted and temperate. "It was crazy trying to keep up the arms race _and_ keep my party and country safe after every other country swore vengeance to me or whatever. I mean, I did it, cause I'm just that good, but… before I knew it, but the entire world burned kind of itself to the ground. That game really spooked me out, you know?"

Zahra's mirth also stopped dead in its tracks as she realized what had truly happened.


	8. Chapter 8

"Wow," Zahra said, her eyes at dinner-plate width. "That's… that's the secret ending that only happens if you're the worst negotiator in the world, and really do take the aggressive path on every single possible interaction. I couldn't bring myself to try that path myself, so I only only found out about it way later." She was trying not to sound _too_ fascinated about it, but so many things about Miko's experience were falling into place.

Understanding was always a high, regardless of how painful.

"Wow, that game really is way deep," Miko said, sitting… _uncharacteristically_ still. "Knows how bad I am of a person, and everything. Starting to get why I get on my mom's nerves a ton."

"…oh, Miko," Zahra sighed, resisting the urge to hug the girl next to her outright. "If it helps, I… don't think the game was trying to condemn you. Just get all of us to think. About what happens if we do nothing _but_ escalate conflict, instead of working through it. Because if you do try to work through fights in _Bravestone IX_ , you can literally talk your foes away, and convert some to your side.

The tiniest glimmer of hope appeared in Miko's eyes. "I can… do that? Like, just make friends easily?"

Zahra nodded with a grin. "Well, maybe not _easily,_ but, yeah, even with the worst enemies you have from the start of the game, you can totally make friends of them, for real, by just… caring about what they're about. Gotta find what those are for yourself, though."

Miko fell silent. And stayed silent. For a while. A long while. An awkwardly long while. And when she whispered her next words:

"…sounds nice, actually. That's what they wanted to teach us, huh?"

Holding back from hugging Miko became a _Herculean_ task.

"I-I think so," Zahra stammered. "I mean, among other, much weirder, things. You tell me what other game in the world lets you use filibustering as a super technique.

Miko grinned, wide. "I don't even know how to _spell_ 'filibuster'. Sounds like something with horses."

At that, both girls broke into welcome, tension-destroying, giggles.

"Sounds like you need some vocabulary pointers, then," Zahra said. "But yeah, fighting everyone just makes the 'bad ending' come quicker. Most people only fought the characters they didn't like, and still got a downer ending, but one that at least assured them that they had friends and family, and that still made life precious…" Zahra trailed off, not wanting to finish the train of thought she just realized she was on.

"…but I didn't get that. Because I was just that awful."

The same track that Miko was on. Darn it.

This time, Zahra _did_ hug her. She didn't even think about it, until she did, and by then it was too late. At least Miko was soft and smelled like cherries. And energy drinks. Cherry energy drinks?

"I'm really sorry, Miko. If it helps… I think you're the complete opposite of terrible."

Cherry Energy Drink leaned into the hug, which, again, was something Zahra didn't realize until it was well into happening.

"Thanks."

It was better than plushies. By a lot. Zahra heard, and felt, Miko sigh in her arms. Making friends in-game was one thing, but being able to carry that outside of the virtual world… only _now_ was she sure it was possible.

And she couldn't have loved a piece of new knowledge any better.

"Okay, backtrack time before I get too down on myself," Miko said. "Games may be my life. And they let me be me. But they aren't _exactly_ me. And they're not exactly my life. Case in point…" Miko pulled back, smiling into Zahra's eyes. "I'm pretty sure I know who my friends are. They're the ones who don't mind if I'm a little… y'know. Fighty."

"Nope." Zahra smiled back, feeling her entire body flush. "They don't."

The two remained, smiling at each other, for the longest half-minute in recorded history, until the silent, connecting moment was interrupted by an orchestrated fanfare.

"Oh, hey, Mission 1. Finally!" Miko tittered. "Thought we'd never get here."

"This was the age when everyone thought, the longer the cutscenes, the better," Zahra said. "So, want me to play while you watch, or…?"

"Hmmm. Now that you mentioned it…" Miko held out her hand. "Guide me once more, sensei. Help me see _this_ game in a new light, too."

"Oh. Sure." Blushing, Zahra did as she was asked. "Listen well, then, young grasshopper, and be amazed."


	9. Chapter 9

Miko took the controller, shifting herself to be at her most comfortable on the beanbag—which apparently involved leaning against Zahra from the side as if it were the most natural and expected thing in the world.

Her heart leaping with joy, Zahra leaned back against Miko, relaxing herself as well—the back of her mind remarking that it was the first time she _could_ relax since entering this room. "Okay, so. Using your mind is how you make it through _Tactics_. And since I now know you're a fellow Brave, it means I can use shorthand."

"Don't go _too_ short on me," Miko said. "I just play these things, I don't go on fan forums or whatever."

"Good instinct," Zahra replied. "But don't worry, I'll only use oficial terms. So, fun story: everything you were saying before? You totally showed that you have the right idea with this game."

Miko did a double take. "What do you mean? My Brave Knights kept dying left and right all evening!"

"That's because, as usual, you're thinking like an attacker. Which is sort of fine, you still fight in this game, and I know you fight well—but you also have to be an advisor. A coordinator. a rock of support to your entire squad."

Miko flashed a sly grin towards Zahra. "Staaaaaarrting to see a pattern with the _Brave_ s ya like."

"I plead the fifth, now and forever," Zahra said. "But yeah. You're there to support as much as you are to lead a charge. However, just like in normal _Bravestone_ , you _do_ want all your enemies grouped together, to take them out easier, instead of spreading your team thin." Zahra leaned towards the screen, outlining the mission's battle grid with her finger, pointing every square around its edge. "Meaning, you wanna lure them around."

"Okay, so… like this?" Miko pressed buttons and hit directions on the controller at lightning speed, positioning her teammates, and attacking her enemies one by one. Any enemy soldiers or monsters who didn't perish outright from precise sword swings, were driven to specific squares, or drawn to other Brave Knights which Miko had placed in even more specific squares.

"Hey, that's it," Zahra said. "Ooh, you're making them chase you, too! That's really good, actually."

"Yep. Miko cackled. "They either get to die tired, or get sacrificed, face to face!"

Miko really _was_ a fighter. Zahra would have to keep that in mind on later missions—she could probably scale and subdue a Gargantus—the super secret nigh-unbeatable boss in _Bravestone XII_ —in game _or_ IRL Glitch form all by herself, without much trouble.

"All right, the rest of them are together on the map." Zahra rubbed her hands. "This is where we blind their specs, make sure they're helpless."

Miko rubbed her hands in solidarity. "I like the way you think! What method do you suggest, fearless leader? Slice? Dice? Maybe a bit of the good old Skyblaze Slash?"

"Skyblaze _is_ pretty good," Zahra said. "This one's on you, but can you think of anything in the rest of your toolbox that could do the job? Something that doesn't involve them only tasting cold steel."

Miko blinked at Zahra. "You do realize there's no 'talking' option in this game, right?"

Zahra smiled. "Humor me."

"Asking a lot of me, here," Miko said with a long, dramatic sigh. "Okay, something that's _not_ the Fight button…" Opening up menus, she tried various offensive magic options—Fire, Ice, Lightning, Earth. All of them did barely any more damage than a basic sword slash.

"Not that, not that, hmmmmmm… not that… ewww, why did I even _try_ that?" With a little bit of the old growl, Miko finally scrolled down to an option that Zahra recognized—and instantly recoiled. "Oh, well, forget that one. It _never_ works."

Zahra smiled again. "Try it. See what happens."

Miko blinked back. "You're zorkin' me, right? Tunnel Vision? It always Misses! I don't even know why they put it in every game."

"I zork you not. Come on, try it. If it doesn't work, what's there to lose?"

"Uh, another one of these missions, that's what."

"Sure, I guess," Zahra said, her tone the epitome of her trademark nonchalance.

Miko continued to stare in disbelief. And Zahra continued to smile, with, for another first that night, a bright confidence.

Eventually, Zahra won the contest. With an "ugh" and a roll of her eyes, Miko turned back to the screen and cast the highlighted spell: Tunnel Vision. Dark clouds immediately materialized around the heads of every enemy bandit on screen.

And Miko promptly dropped the controller, gaping. She looked back at Zahra—and Zahra's triumphant smile—while holding up one index finger. Her lips and tongue tried to move, but failed to form words, until she finally croaked, " _Why is this the only_ Bravestone _where debuff spells work?_ "

Zahra could not have stopped her belly laughs if she'd tried.

Miko, meanwhile, moved her hero characters into offensive positions around her wandering adversaries. "All right, buddies, single file," She said to the enemies who were now lined up in a single column of tiles.

"Hahahaaaa! Look at the blind leading the blind!" Miko bounced excitedly in her seat. "Man, so that's what Tunnel Vision does? I can't believe it! For a Level 1 spell, it's hecking powerful! One of the great mysteries of our time, finally answered!"

Zahra's eyes glinted. "Welcome to my world, where buffs and debuffs actually do what they're supposed to." With a sheepish shrug, she added, "I, uh, was actually surprised when I went to the mainline games and found they never worked, yeah."

"I bet! But in that case…" Miko's grin showed teeth, and her eyes narrowed. " _Poison everything._ "

On her next turn, with the click of a button, green clouds wafted over Miko's enemies, causing most of them to keel over—and those who didn't, were quickly wiped out by the Brave Knights. In moments, the zone was clear, and a victory fanfare played.

" _Yes!_ " Miko squealed. "Think I could learn to like it in support-land—" Another squeal interrupted her words as the ranking screen came up, awarding Miko a golden, sparkling "S". "S-Rank? Sweet! Am I esports or _what?_ "

"You're on your way, with a performance like that." Zahra stood up. It was Mission Accomplished, after all, which meant it was time for her to go. She still had a headquarters to get in order, not to mention a store. "Glad things worked out."

"Whoa, hang on!" Miko leapt up from the beanbag, and darted in front of Zahra. "That. was. _Amazing._ Thanks, Zahra. Like, metric tons thanks."

"Sure, it's no problem—"

The next thing Zahra knew, Miko's hands were holding hers. And once more, relaxation was out the window.

"I'm _really_ glad you came by," Miko said, her voice soft, her usual energy replaced with an almost overwhelming sincerity. "And that you're here. With us."

"Miko, I…" Zahra tried to find words, but her brain was too busy sending signals to the rest of her body to _put out the internal fires, damn it all._

  
It didn't take long for Miko to notice that they were _both_ blushing like crazy, however and she jerked away. "Awww, geez, sorry. I should have… sometimes I—"

"I-it's okay," Zahra stammered, the fires of embarrassment and confusion still raging. "Thanks for the compliments. Really."

Zahra walked out of the practice room as quickly as she could.


	10. Chapter 10

It was now past closing time in the Hinobi store proper, and Zahra was doing final checks of the games on shelf, as well as the store tills. Sales had been good today, with nothing stolen, which meant that all that needed to be taken care of was organization and paperwork, under the store's half-dimmed lights.

It had taken a full half-hour of performing soothing, routine tasks for Zahra to finally calm down. Though, even now, the back of her mind—and the front of her mind, and everywhere in between—reveled in low-key chastising herself for how she'd handled things earlier.

Miko had just wanted to show appreciation for Zahra's company. She'd hardly been the first, either. So why was Zahra always so bad at accepting it?

Ugh. Miko had to hate her by now, and Zahra couldn't blame her one bit.

As she alphabetically shelved a final pile of game boxes scattered by customers over the course of the day, she heard the _fwash_ of a portal in the room behind her. She glanced back to see who it was.

Speak of the devil. Zahra forced a small smile. "Well, now you're definitely going to get in trouble with your mom. It's super late."

"Yep," Miko replied, vaulting over the checkout counter and bouncing over to Zahra's side. "I am officially dead. Look for me in the back of the papers tomorrow. Worth it though—got up to mission 8, all S-Ranks!"

"Eight-mission perfection?" Zahra whistled, unable to stop her impressed expression. "Whoa! Nice job!"

"Thanks! Yep, I may be grounded for life, but at least I've got Smokin' Sick Style." She walked back to and sat on the counter, hesitating before speaking, kicking her legs as she glanced away at an angle, towards an imaginary fly on one of the game shelved. "Um… so, hey. Sorry I made things awkward back there. I really didn't mean to, I swear."

Zahra turned her back to Miko, towards the pile of games she'd been shelving—but didn't pick any of them up. She closed her eyes and sighed. Leave it to Miko to leave no stone, or embarrassing moment, unturned.

"You… didn't 'make' things awkward," she said. "Truth is, I came with Awkward preinstalled, plus its expansion pack. But everything you said? Actually made me really happy."

She heard Miko stifle a gasp. "Really?"

  
"Yeah. I'm just bad at reacting to that kind of stuff." Zahra shelved a copy of _Kung Fu Creatures On The Rampage III_. "Spent a lot of my life in my room, with no siblings, friends at a premium… I guess I just didn't get a lot of practice showing appreciation and stuff. Or learning how to handle it. But it wasn't your fault at all. It was mine."

"Oh…" Miko said, with a bit more silence as Zahra's words sunk in. " _Oh. Wow._ Zahra, I totally get that," she went on, bounding off the counter and running up to Zahra. "I get that super hard! To the point where… I think i'm jealous."

Zahra turned around. "You're jealous?"

Miko scoffed, holding up her hands. "I've got as many siblings as I've got fingers! In my house, you have to fight to be listened to, never mind for the controller. It was one of the reasons playing with you tonight was so much fun. I didn't have to force myself to get a turn—and you're the first Player Two I've had in forever who knows how to let people hear themselves think." She giggled. "Even Five can't manage that."

Zahra giggled back in spite of herself. "Seriously?"

Miko jazzed her hands. "Hi_5: Nicest boy in the universe—and, when he gets going, also squealier than both us at the same time would be if we suddenly won tickets to a _Bravestone_ orchestral concert."

Zahra exhaled, staring into space as her eyes sparkled at the thought. Attending one of those concerts was one of her dreams in life—so far she'd had to settle for video streams of past events, and that hardly captured the atmosphere of really being there. "That's… pretty squealy."

"Heh. Yeah. So, yah, if it's okay…" Miko bound her hands together, swaying and kicking at the floor. "I was hoping I could… try again?"

Zahra blinked. "Try what again?"

Miko stepped in front of Zahra. "What I tried back in HQ. But with real words, this time."

Zahra did everything in her power to ignore her body heating up, and also everything she could to make a show of her not caring very much. "Uh, s-sure. I-if it'll make you feel better, I mean."

Miko grinned. "Don't think I'll be the only one."

And then, just like before, Zahra felt Miko's hands holding her own. No plushie, no arcade rival, no fanboy or fangirl, and certainly no online commenter, had ever brought about this feeling, and she hated being barely able to handle it just as much as she loved being a part of it.

"Thanks, Zahra," Miko said. "For not making fun of me when I was having trouble back there, or for playing _Bravestone IX_ wrong—"

"You didn't play it wrong," Zahra cut in, "you just played it to the fullest and you did it your way aaaaaand whoop, sorry, you were totally in the middle of something big just now, right. See, this is what I mean at how bad I am at this…"

Miko laughed, her blush matching Zahra's. "Nah, it's okay, I promise. But yeah, in my gaming spaces, everything's _skill skill skill_ and _compete for all the things_. It's like that offline with my sibs, and _online_ , forget about it. What I'm trying to say is…"

Miko looked up at Zahra, serenity washing over her face. "Support classes are hard to come by. But I've always felt that… we don't crack the codes of life unless we work together, you know?"

Zahra's burning nervousness slowly gave way to an inner sunshine.

"That's really profound, Miko. And I totally agree. Being a gamer's about the love. Not just for games but for your fellow gamer."

"Hah! Now who's being profound?" Miko wandered over to the stack of games, picked up a copy of _Brawling Monarchs_ , then casually tossed it to Zahra, who put it on the shelf in short order. "So, question: is this your only night this week on closing duty?"

The back of Zahra's mind (which had been very busy tonight, yes) clicked on something that Miko might have been getting at, but Zahra decided she didn't want to jump the gun. "I usually do about three nights a week. Why do you ask?"

"Well… I game in arcades, and I stream, and now I've got the ultimate ARG going with this Glitch Tech stuff. But my labbing seshes, or my just-for-fun game time? Usually pretty lonely. Usually no choice in that matter, either, 'cause…"

Miko hesitated, before turning around, walking to the counter, bracing herself on it with both hands, and finishing her sentence with a sigh. "Friends, especially girl friends, came at a premium for me, too. Long story, but, uh, mistakes were made not long after I moved here. Just like you, I never was great at the whole 'people' thing. Heck, becoming a Tech was probably the best social thing that ever happened to me.

"So, yeah. Thanks for letting me game with someone who gets me. If just for a little while."

Zahra looked at Miko, who was now staring in space in the same way she had just a couple of minutes ago. If someone were to walk up to Zahra and tell her that she and Miko were sharing the exact same brain and heart right now, she would have completely believed them.  
  
She walked up behind Miko, tapping her on the shoulder. When Miko turned around, she held out her phone.

"Guess we keep that train rolling," Zahra said, reveling in seeing Miko light up at the words. "Toss me your number and 'tag."

Miko grabbed Zahra's phone, typing away until a new saved contact was on it. Afterwards, Zahra sent a text to the new number, which Miko added to her own phone, accompanied by a muted squeal. Zahra then walked over to one of the shelves, and grabbed a packaged controller which was compatible with the console that they had been using downstairs.

"Just so you know: _BST_ has a co-op mode, and I'm pretty sure I still hold the all-time leaderboard record. If you want to keep going with the game, I can keep showing you the ropes, plus toss in some min-maxing and optimization tech."

"Yes, _please,_ " Miko said, with raised, excited fists, and eyes that Zahra could swear were sparkling.

"One catch, though," Zahra continued. " _Bravestone Tactics_ is a 70-hour game, and that's just going critical path only. If we're going to play this together and not have it take a million years…" She made a show of checking the time on her phone in front of Miko, then stepping up and looking into her eyes. "We'd need to make this a regular thing."

Miko looked back into Zahra's eyes—and where there was once apprehension and nervousness for both girls… there was now, at last, happiness, as wavelengths aligned.

"I'd like nothing better."

  
_~Game Over~_   
_~Thanks For Playing!~_


End file.
